Of all the
people killed by Muhammad, Uqba was among those most worthy of punishment. He
ridiculed and tormented Muhammad while the latter was still in Mecca. Indeed,
Uqba was so disrespectful that he once spit in Muhammad’s face,[5] and he later
fought the Muslims at Badr. He is only listed here because of the particularly
callous response that Muhammad gave him at his execution: “When the
apostle ordered him to be killed Uqba said, ‘But who will look after my
children, O Muhammad?’ ‘Hell,’ he said.”[6]

The Case of Ka’b bin al-Ashraf

When Ka’b heard of all the men who had been killed by Muslims at the Battle of
Badr, he wept for the departed and composed a poem in memory of their good
works. The Muslims responded with poetry of their own. One Muslim woman
answered:

Would that those weltering in their blood

Could be seen by those who live between Mecca’s mountains!
They would know for certain and would see

How they were dragged along by hair and beard.[7]

After this, Ka’b wrote poetry against the Muslim women, and Muhammad
subsequently called for his assassination:

The apostle said . . . “Who will rid me of Ibnu’l-Ashraf [Ka’b]?”
Muhammad bin Maslama . . . said, “I will deal with him for you, O apostle of
God, I will kill him.” [Muhammad] said, “Do so if you can.” . . . The apostle
said, “All that is incumbent upon you is that you should try.” [The assassin]
said, “O apostle of God, we shall have to tell lies.” He answered, “Say what
you like, for you are free in this matter.”[8]

Muhammad bin Maslama, having received from Muhammad permission to lie, proceeded
with his plan to murder Ka’b. The Muslims sent Silkan, a lover of poetry, to
befriend Ka’b. Silkan and Ka’b spent some time reciting verses to one another,
until the former asked a favor of his new friend. Silkan said that he and his
companions wanted to buy some food from Ka’b and that he would put down a number
of weapons as a pledge until payment could be made. He did this so that Ka’b
“would not take alarm at the sight of weapons when they brought them.” The
Muslims came later with their weapons and invited Ka’b to join them for a walk,
and he gladly joined them.

[A]fter a time Abu Na’ila ran his hand through [Ka’b’s] hair. Then he smelt his
hand, and said, “I have never smelt a scent finer than this.” They walked on
farther and he did the same so that Ka’b suspected no evil. Then after a space
he did it for the third time, and cried, “Smite the enemy of God!” So they
smote him, and their swords clashed over him with no effect. Muhammad bin
Maslama said, “I remembered my dagger when I saw that our swords were useless,
and I seized it. Meanwhile the enemy of God had made such a noise that every
fort around us was showing a light. I thrust it into the lower part of his
body, then I bore down upon it until I reached his genitals, and the enemy of
God fell to the ground.”[9]

The assassination of Ka’b had the desired effect: “Our attack upon God’s
enemy cast terror among the Jews, and there was no Jew in Medina who
did not fear for his life.”[10]

The Case of Ibn Sunayna

Ibn Sunayna was a Jewish merchant whose only crime seems to be that he was in
town when the Muslims went on a killing spree:

The apostle said, “Kill any Jew that falls into your power.” Thereupon
Muhayyisa bin Mas’ud leapt upon Ibn Sunayna, a Jewish merchant with whom they
had social and business relations, and killed him. Huwayyisa was not a Muslim
at the time though he was the elder brother. When Muhayyisa killed him
Huwayyisa began to beat him, saying, “You enemy of God, did you kill him when
much of the fat on your belly comes from his wealth?” Muhayyisa answered, “Had
the one who ordered me to kill him ordered me to kill you I would have cut your
head off.” He said that this was the beginning of Huwayyisa’s acceptance of
Islam. The other replied, “By God, if Muhammad had ordered you to kill me would
you have killed me?” He said, “Yes, by God, had he ordered me to cut off
your head I would have done so.” He exclaimed, “By God, a religion which can
bring you to this is marvelous!” And he became a Muslim.[11]

The Case of
Mirba bin Qayzi

News of Muhammad’s victories and assassinations spread rapidly, and many people
became angry at him. One such person was a blind man named Mirba bin Qayzi:

[The Muslims] came out in the territory of Mirba bin Qayzi who was a blind man,
a disaffected person. When he perceived the approach of the apostle and his men
he got up and threw dust in their faces saying, “You may be the apostle of God,
but I won’t let you through my garden!” I was told that he took a handful of
dust and said, “By God, Muhammad, if I could be sure that I should not hit
someone else I would throw it in your face.” The people rushed on him to kill
him, and the apostle said, “Do not kill him, for this blind man is blind of
heart, blind of sight.” Sa’d bin Zayd . . . rushed at him before the apostle
had forbidden this and hit him on the head with his bow so that he split it
open.”[12]

In Muhammad’s defense, he did order his men not to kill Mirba. Nevertheless,
the passage shows how quick the Muslims were to kill anyone who insulted
Muhammad, and that they were growing accustomed to doing so. Further, we have
no evidence that Muhammad so much as reprimanded Sa’d for bludgeoning the man.

The Case of the Qurayza Jews

The men of Qurayza resisted Muhammad and attempted to form an alliance against
him. When the alliance faltered, Muhammad acted quickly. His armies surrounded
them and “besieged them

for
twenty-five nights until they were sore pressed and God cast terror into their
hearts.”[13] Muhammad selected Sa’d bin Mu’adh to decide their punishment, and
al-Aus, an ally of Qurayza, agreed to let Sa’d choose the punishment. Sa’d
declared that “the men should be killed, the property divided, and the women and
children taken as captives.”[14]

Then they surrendered, and the apostle confined them in Medina. . . . Then the
apostle went out to the market of Medina (which is still its market today) and
dug trenches in it. Then he sent for them and struck off their heads in those
trenches as they were brought out to him in batches. . . . There were 600 or 700
in all, though some put the figure as high as 800 or 900. As they were being
taken out in batches to the apostle they asked Ka’b what he thought would be
done with them. He replied, “Will you never understand? Don’t you see that the
summoner never stops and those who are taken away do not return? By Allah it is
death!” This went on until the apostle made an end of them.[15]

Every male who had reached puberty was killed.[16] A woman named Bunanah was
beheaded because she had dropped a millstone on one of Muhammad’s men.[17]
Muhammad divided the women, children, and property among his men (taking a
fifth of everything for himself). Some of the women were sold for horses
and weapons, and Muhammad kept one of the captive women, Rayhana, for
himself.[18]

The Case of Sallam Ibn Abu’l-Huqayq

The events surrounding the death of Sallam are interesting. Two tribes were
competing with one another to see who could do the most for Muhammad:

One of the things which God did for His apostle was that these two tribes of the
Ansar, Aus and Khazraj, competed the one with the other like two stallions: if
Aus did anything to the apostle’s advantage Khazraj would say, “They shall not
have this superiority over us in the apostle’s eyes and in Islam” and they would
not rest until they could do something similar.[19]

The men of Aus had received the honor of assassinating Ka’b bin al-Ashraf, so
the men of Khazraj longed to boast of a similar achievement. Hence, they went
to Muhammad and asked for permission to murder Sallam Ibn Abu’l-Huqayq, and
Muhammad granted their request.

When they got to Khaybar they went to Sallam’s house by night, having locked
every door in the settlement on the inhabitants. Now he was in an upper chamber
of his to which a ladder led up. They mounted this until they came to the door
and asked to be allowed to come in. His wife came out and asked who they were
and they told her that they were Arabs in search of supplies. She told them
that their man was here and that they could come in. When we entered we bolted
the door of the room on her and ourselves fearing lest something should come
between us and him. His wife shrieked and warned him of us, so we ran at him
with our swords as he was on his bed. . . . When we had smitten him with our
swords Abdullah bin Unays bore down with his sword into his belly until it went
right through him.”[20]

The Case of Kinana bin al-Rabi

Muhammad and his men conquered a town called Khaybar and distributed its riches
and women among themselves.[21] They captured Kinana bin al-Rabi, who
was in charge of the treasure of one of the conquered tribes. Muhammad demanded
the treasure, but Kinana refused to tell him where it was hidden.

When [Muhammad] asked him about the rest he refused to produce it, so the
apostle gave orders to al-Zubayr bin al-Awwam, “Torture him until you extract
what he has,” so he kindled a fire with flint and steel on his chest until he
was nearly dead. Then the apostle delivered him to Muhammad bin Maslama
and he struck off his head, in revenge for his brother Mahmud [who had been
killed in battle while conquering the town].[22]

The Case of
Abu-Rafi

In a chapter titled “Killing a Sleeping Pagan,” Al-Bukhari gives the following
report:

Allah’s Apostle (the blessing and peace of Allah be upon him) sent a group of
Ansari men to kill Abu-Rafi. One of them set out and entered their (i.e. the
enemy’s) fort. That man said: “I hid myself in a stable for their animals.
They closed the fort gate. Later they lost a donkey belonging to them, so they
went out in its search. I, too, went out along with them, pretending to look
for it. They found the donkey and entered their fort. And I, too, entered
along with them. They closed the gate of the fort at night, and kept its keys
in a small window where I could see them. When those people slept, I took the
keys and opened the gate of the fort and came upon Abu Rafi and said: ‘O Abu
Rafi.’ When he replied to me, I proceeded towards the voice and hit him. He
shouted and I came out to come back, pretending to be a helper. I said: ‘O Abu
Rafi,’ changing the tone of my voice. He asked me: ‘What do you want; woe to
your mother?’ I asked him: ‘What has happened to you?’ He said: ‘I
don’t know who came to me and hit me.’ Then I drove my sword into his belly and
pushed it forcibly until it touched the bone.”[23]

The Case of an Anonymous One-Eyed Shepherd

After failing at one of their assassination attempts, some Muslims were
returning to Muhammad when one of them, an assassin named Amr, went into a cave.
He soon encountered a one-eyed shepherd driving a sheep. The one-eyed man laid
beside Amr (not realizing that he was a Muslim) and began to sing:

I won’t be a
Muslim as long as I live,

Nor
heed to their religion give.[24]

Amr didn’t miss his chance to kill an infidel:

I said (to myself), “You will soon know!” and as soon as the badu was
asleep and snoring I got up and killed him in a more horrible way than any man
has been killed. I put the end of my bow in his sound eye, then I bore down on
it until I forced it out at the back of his neck.[25]

A couple of other people were killed during this failed expedition, yet when Amr
reported the details to Muhammad, the Prophet blessed him for his work.[26]

The Case of
Abu Afak

Abu Afak, saddened because Muhammad had killed someone named al-Harith, composed
the following song in memory of the departed:

Long have I lived but never have I seen

An assembly or collection of people

More faithful to their undertaking

And their allies when called upon

Than the sons of Qayla when they assembled,
Men who overthrew mountains and never submitted.

A rider who came to them split them in two (saying)

‘Permitted’, ‘Forbidden’ of all sorts of things.

Had you believed in glory or kingship

You would have followed Tubba.[27]

These words were too much for Muhammad to bear, so the Prophet of Islam flew
into a rage that ended with the death of Abu Afak.[28]

The Case of Asma

A woman named Asma (who had five sons) was appalled at the murder of Abu Afak,
so she wrote a poem against the Muslims in retaliation. Ibn Ishaq relates the
account of what followed:

When the apostle heard what she had said he said, “Who will rid me of
Marwan’s daughter?” Umayr bin Adiy al-Khatmi who was with him heard him, and
that very night he went to her house and killed her. In the morning he came to
the apostle and told him what he had done and he said, “You have helped God and
His apostle, O Umayr!” When he asked if he would have to bear any evil
consequences the apostle said, “Two goats won’t butt their heads about her,” so
Umayr went back to his people.[29]

The Case of Abdullah bin Khatal and His Two Singing Girls

Abdullah bin Khatal was a Muslim who later apostatized. He had two singing
girls who sang satirical songs about the Prophet. As soon as Muhammad had the
power, he ordered that all three be killed. Abdullah was killed by two Muslims.
One of the singing girls was killed. The other was later given immunity, for
unknown reasons.[30]

The Case of al-Huwayrith

All that is known of al-Huwayrith is that he insulted Muhammad, that Muhammad
demanded he be killed, and that Ali carried out Muhammad’s wishes.[31]

The Case of Sara, a Freed Slave

Sara was a freed slave who had insulted Muhammad in Mecca. Muhammad commanded
his men to kill her wherever they find her. She was eventually found and
trampled to death by a mounted soldier.[32]